BACKGROUND Isolation of sperm suitable for ICSI from fresh or frozen-thawed testicular sperm extraction (TESE) can be facilitated by mechanical or enzymatic processing of the samples. METHODS A retrospective multicentre study was initiated to compare these two approaches. Eleven German centres provided data on their TESE cycles performed during the period 1996/1997. Quality of retrieved sperm...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0163524.].

Serum follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) is routinely measured when evaluating the infertile male for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). However, among the sperm parameters, only its relationship with sperm concentration is well documented. Few investigations concern the relationship between FSH and sperm motility and morphology, and the results of ICSI. A retrospective study of 316 coupl...

OBJECTIVE Correlations between semen parameters and sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI) were investigated to identify characteristics of sperm without DNA damage that could be used in selecting sperm for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Pregnancy outcomes were compared to determine whether in vitro fertilization (IVF) or ICSI is a better choice for patients who have sperm with a high-DF...

In previous studies, a new IVF method of intracytoplasmic morphologically selected sperm injection (IMSI) was introduced, based on motile sperm organellar morphology examination (MSOME). It was concluded that microinjection of morphologically selected sperm cells with strictly normal nucleus, defined by MSOME, improves IVF-ICSI outcome. The aim of the present study was to confirm this conclusio...

We have evaluated the safety of intracytoplasmic sperm injection(ICSI) procedures by using bovine zygotes. Bovine zygotes were injected with a small amount (2-3 pl) of either medium alone or medium containing polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) (sham-ICSI, without spermatozoon) using the same procedure as ICSI, and the subsequent in-vitro embryonic development and embryo quality (number of cells/blastoc...

Oscillatory rises in intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) are the pivotal signal in the fertilization of mammalian eggs. The spatiotemporal dynamics of [Ca2+]i rises in mouse eggs subjected to intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) were analysed by Ca2+ imaging and compared with those subjected to in-vitro fertilization (IVF). The first Ca2+ transient occurred 15-30 min after ICSI in mos...

This study was conducted to determine whether the mode of sperm immobilization prior to intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) influences fertilization by immature spermatozoa. Of the 837 ICSI cycles evaluated, 81 were performed with epididymal or testicular spermatozoa; 35 cycles with epididymal spermatozoa immobilized in the standard fashion resulted in fertilization and pregnancy rates of 4...

PURPOSE For intracytoplasmic sperm injection in the absence of sperm motility it can be virtually impossible to distinguish viable from nonviable sperm. A reliable means to identify viable nonmotile sperm is needed and would likely improve the intracytoplasmic sperm injection success rate. Optoelectronic tweezers are a new technology that uses light induced dielectrophoresis fields to distingui...

The aim of this study was to describe morphologic sperm changes observed via scanning electron microscopy and the acrosomal status resulting from immobilization and micromanipulation. The manipulations made on sperm before intracytoplasmic sperm injection were the possible cause of sperm ultrastructural damages and could trigger an acrosome reaction.